A 330ml bottle with a BB of Oct 2014. Picked up a little while back from a supermarket. The label states that this brew is inspired by German helles and includes oats in the mash.

Poured into a stemmed pilsner glass. A crystal-clear golden colour with medium carbonation. Forms a decent head of white foam that lasts for a couple of minutes before collapsing and disappearing. Aroma of faint light malt with subtle hints of stewed leaves and cardboard. Weak sauce.

Tastes of weak malt with a dry finish. Notes of ultra-light malt, stewed leaves, husks and cardboard. Well-attenuated, followed by a harsh bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, dry and tingly, with spritzy carbonation and a thin, insubstantial body. Quite astringent, accompanied by an aftertaste of acrid stewed leaves and watery malt.

Spectacularly unimpressive. Looks like a typical macro lager, with a virtually non-existant aroma and a weak flavour that possesses an unpleasant harshness. So-so body; bit too fizzy. Doesn't live up to its pedigree. Not very nice and not worth spending money on - give it a miss.

16oz glass at Beer Revolution YEGDT, in the hubbub of post-Yuletide revelry (my own included!)

This beer appears a crystal clear, pale golden yellow colour, with one skinny finger of foamy, loosely frothy off-white head, which leaves nothing more than a small amount of coral atoll lace around the glass as things quickly sink away.

The bubbles are nice and tight, in their plainly rendered frothiness, the body medium-light in weight, and so-so in the smoothness department. It finishes off-dry, the apple and pear fruitiness persisting above all, with a waning pale malt and generally wan hoppiness.

A fairly bland Euro-lager, one none too far removed from the macro Continental versions of the style. Not worthy of the stiff import price, and not worth the hit on my wavering, and yet still expectant palate for this gateway-heavy brewery. When will I fucking learn?